4 Reasons Cleveland Browns will beat Pittsburgh

Why the Cleveland Browns will beat Pittsburgh at Heinz Field

When is the last time the Cleveland Browns had four wins through only five weeks of the NFL season? The correct answer is 1994 when Bill Belichick led the team to an 11-5 record. Wow, that is a wild stat that continues to shock me. Normally when the Browns hit four wins, fans have started to think about what top draft pick they want, not what playoff matchup would be best.

While it is still early and the Browns must be careful to not get ahead of themselves, it certainly looks like they have the talent to make a run at the postseason. The best part of the entire season, the team has yet to be fully healthy. But truthfully, that may never happen as injuries across the league continue to pile up.

Cleveland heads into Pittsburgh on Sunday with this rivalry likely worse than the one-sided outcomes of Ohio State and Michigan in recent history. In the last 15 attempts, the Browns have only two wins, one tie, and 12 losses to the Steelers. And a lot of those losses happened in week 16 when their starters weren’t even playing because of already clinching a playoff berth.

Here is a stat for you, the Browns haven’t won in Pittsburg since October 5, 2003 — Tim Couch and the Browns smacked the Steelers in week five with each team moving to 2-3 on the season. Tommy Maddox was the leading passer and Amos Zereoue the leading rusher for the Steelers. William Green ran for 115 yards for the Browns while Couch threw for 208 yards and two touchdowns.

I’m sure I watched but can honestly say I don’t even remember this. More familiar is the 28-24 loss in week 17 of the 2017 season where the Browns had a chance to win vs. reserves to no go 0-16. Or the 30-9 loss in 2015 where fans would have been fine with just punting on third down the offense was so bad.

The Browns have improved, but they must defeat the Steelers in Pittsburgh before they are “for real”. Here are four reasons why I think it happens this week.